Hey, Rhye, you mentioned a pizza thread :lol:

*dons chef's hat*

Go on Rhye, pizza me!

Let's see how to make a proper italian pizza right at home. Spread the word around!




PART 1 - The pastry


What you need is an oven, and a little kneading machine / pastry mixer (whatever you call it. Otherwise you have to knead by hand, very hard!), and the ingredients.



These are for 3 persons: they fit more or less 2 medium sized tins
500 gr of Flour
300 gr of water
1 cube of yeast
20 gr of extravirgin olive oil
10 gr of salt
10 gr of sugar (not compulsory)


You can increase these quantities in proportion.


As the leavening takes some hours, you should start mixing the ingredients at least 2 hours before you start preparing it. But 4-5 hours is better.
If you plan to make a pizza for dinner, you'd better start in the morning.

Now step by step:

Put some of the 300 gr water in a separate glass and melt the yeast in it

Put it, together with sugar (if any), oil, flour, salt and the rest of the water, in the mixer.

Mix until you get an homogeneous pastry.
It must be quite elastic; if it's too hard, it needs more water, if it's too soft, it needs more flour.

With the exact recipe you shouldn't go wrong, but only with experience you'll learn to judge correctly.

Keep salt away from yeast, in either way.
Like: add water, sugar, then a part of flour, and after a mix add salt, and the rest of flour.
It spoils the yeast otherwise.


When you've finished, put it in a container like a deep tin or a pot with a round bottom.
Cover it with a cloth and put it in a "safe" place.
Don't leave open windows, as air blows may kill the yeast. I usually put it in the oven turned off.


Leave it to rest for a few hours.

If you've left it from the morning, you can knead it a bit in mid-afternoon.
Put some flour on your hands and reshape it. The leavened pastry will deflate when you touch it, but don't worry, it'll leaven again and be softer!






PART 2 - Shaping


In the evening, divide the pastry into smaller "balls". Each one will fit a tin.

Then it comes to lay those balls down....there are various ways to do it.

Pastry often tends to stick to your hands. You can put flour or olive oil on your hands to avoid this. Ii guess flour is cheaper where you live :)

You can use or not use a rolling pin; I prefer not to use it (though it's easier to strech pasty with it), because it makes the pastry too much thin and compact, removing the air from it. Possibly you can use it at first, if you find it too hard, and use your hands later. Try not to make any "holes" or "hills" on it.

Using hands, you can stretch it directly in the tin; but first, you should grease the tins with a little oil, stretching it with a handkerchief.
Tins can be round or rectangular, they're both fine.



The layer shouldn't be too thin or too thick: around 1 cm, maybe less (as it will grow a bit); it depends on personal taste anyway.


Then tomato comes.

You need less than half of a bottle of tomato puree.
Whatever you call it.
IMPORTANT -> don't even dare to use ketchup, chili or any other kind of spiced tomato sauce!

All you need is pure tomato puree; someone uses more rusty tomato pulp, but I prefer the finer one. It's personal taste again.
So, put some in a recipient and add some salt and olive oil to flavour it. Taste yourself to judge when it's flavoured enough.
Nothing more: no garlic, no basil (they're used in sauces for pasta!)

Then, add it on the layer (already in the tin) with a spoon; cover everything except a thin border.

PART 3 - Cooking



You should have turned on your oven by now.
Of course, better it is, better the result will be; but even with a bad oven you'll get a great pizza if the rest of the recipe is strictly followed.
Set it to 200 degrees C (400 F) or a little more.


Now, depending on the flavour, you may add some ingredients to the pizzas. Basically any other ingredients you may want to add, except any kind of cheese, speck and some other exceptions.

But first, we must define another very important concept: it's got to be PIZZA flavoured with other stuff, not OTHER STUFF flavoured with pizza, okay?
Pizza = pastry, tomato and mozzarella. You may add what you want on it, but you must not cover the layer completely! This ain't an American hamburger: a mountain of other stuff over it is a nonsense, it wouldn't be pizza anymore. Just cut the additional ingredients in small pieces and distribute them around.

A little final touch: you can add a few extra tears of oil to the borders of the pizza (where there isn't any tomato) if you want.

So, when you're ready, and your oven is ready as well, start putting the tins in it.

Cooking can take 10, 15 minutes. It heavily depends on the oven. Remember also that when the oven is very warm, it will take less time to cook (remember when you put in your 2nd or 3rd pizza, they'll cook faster)

You can judge if it's cooked or not wearing a glove and cautiously touching a border of the pizza with a fork.
It's hard to explain when's too soft or too hard, you'll learn with experience (and possibly failures). Just remember that if it's soft like the pastry it's clearly early, while if it's a kind of hard and it's turning yellowish, it's already too late.

In fact, you shouldn't cook it completely: when it's NEARLY ready you must take it out, put the mozzarella on it, and put it in again (possibly rotating it 180° for a more homogeneous cooking).

Let's stop one moment: I've just mentioned mozzarella, but in fact I skipped its description.
You MUST use mozzarella, and not any other kind of cheese (except buffalo mozzarella, which is even better)
You need 2 mozzarellas (125gr each) per tin, more or less. It depends on the size of the tin anyway.
So, as soon as you insert your first pizza in the oven, while you wait, put the mozzarellas on a dish, and cut them into very little pieces (NOT slices).

Summarizing: pastry+tomato+other into the oven; when it's almost cooked, add mozzarella and put it inside again for a couple of minutes. It's just the time to make it melt: you can judge looking at it. If it's turning yellow or brown, you're burning it.
Timing is very important: sometimes you'll take it out too early to put mozzarella, and you'll have to choose a compromise between a raw pastry and a burned topping.





PART 4 - Variants and flavours


Let see what can do and what you can't.
(in [] ingredients that you must put in when the pizza is almost cooked (such as mozzarella); in {} ingredients you must put even later. The rest goes in together with tomato).
Keep in mine that extra ingredients are always cut into little pieces

The basic favour is Margherita.
Ingredients: tomato, [mozzarella]
if you want, add oreganum. A bit of basil too if you want.

http://rhye.civfanatics.net/PizzaMargherita.JPG

In my own opinion, some of the best flavours:

Ham and Mushrooms
Ingredients: tomato, cooked ham, champignons, [mozzarella]
http://www.pizzacolosseum.ro/pix/30.jpg

Ham
Ingredients: tomato, cooked ham, [mozzarella]

Napoletana
Ingredients: tomato, capers, salted anchovies (salted, not fresh!), [mozzarella]
As this will result is a very salty pizza, it's recommended not to add salt to tomato
http://www.cookaround.com/cpg134/albums/userpics/10345/pizza_napoli.JPG

Cherry tomatos and buffalo mozzarella
Ingredients: tomato, cherry tomatos,
As this will result is a little saltless pizza, it's recommended to add salt on or inside cherry tomatos too.
Buffalo mozzarella is more expensive, but it's worth the cost!
http://santiaghini.kelys.com/immagini/squisitezze_del_monster/DSCN3135.jpg

Napoletana + Cherry tomatos and buffalo mozzarella
Ingredients: tomato, cherry tomatos, capers, salted anchovies, [buffalo mozzarella]
No need for less or more salt here: the extra water produced by cherry tomatos and mozzarella mets with the extra salt caused by capers and anchovies, creating a perfect mix!

Raw ham, cherry tomatos and buffalo mozzarella
Ingredients: tomato, cherry tomatos, [buffalo mozzarella], {raw ham}
Raw ham (such as Parma ham) is already very salted and doesn't need to be cooked (it would dry otherwise)

Sausage
Ingredients: tomato, fresh pork sausage, [mozzarella]

Sausage and Ceps
Ingredients: tomato, fresh pork sausage, cep (Boletus / porcini, whatever you call them) mushrooms, [mozzarella]
http://www.metropizza.info/PizzaMetroFoto3.jpg

Salami
Ingredients: tomato, hot salami, [mozzarella]
Don't add too many salamis around, like in American pizzas.

Würstel
Ingredients: tomato, würstel (the frankfurter hot dog sausage, you know), [mozzarella]

Würstel and Arugula
Ingredients: tomato, würstel, [mozzarella], {arugula / rucola salad}

Speck and Mascarpone
Ingredients: tomato, [mozzarella], [mascarpone cheese], {speck}
Believe me, this flavour is definitely one of the best!
Speck, in case you don't know, is a kind of smoked pork ham; mascarpone cream melts with salted speck perfectly.
Though not a classic, it has become a very popular flavour in Italy
http://www.pizzanewport.it/images/Pz%20Masc%20Speck.jpg

Speck and Brie
Ingredients: tomato, [mozzarella], [brie cheese], {speck}

Norma
Ingredients: tomato, [mozzarella], [ricotta cheese], {fried aubergines / eggplants}



Now, some examples of how pizza [B]MUST NOT be:

http://www.expresspizza.lv/images/paika/1173350214_1435899350.jpeg
http://www.expresspizza.lv/images/paika/1139416062_1141710418.jpeg
http://www.expresspizza.lv/images/paika/1139416288_1814213489.jpeg
http://www.expresspizza.lv/images/paika/1139417323_923361674.jpeg
http://thecoredump.org/images/kebab_pizza-tm.jpg




A few forbidden ingredients:

pineapple or any other kind of fruit
egg
chicken
cinnamon
meat
pasta
french fries
ketchup
mayonnaise
beef
pork
kebab
feta
fish
chocolate
or other strange things




Now some variants.
You know, every good pizzeria has its own secrets and they're usually jealous of them.

Here are some related to the pastry.


- Milk:

Replace part of the water you needed in the pastry with milk. The result is a pastry more similar to milk dough bread.



- Potato:


You should boil one potato and press it with a spoon.
Replace some water with the water you used to boil it, and some flour with mashed potato.
If the pastry becomes too flabby, add a little flour.



- Beer/Coke:

May seem weird, but if you replace some water with beer (not too much! Or it will become bitter) or coke, the pastry will become a little sweeter and softer.




Anyway you can make experiments yourself.
I usually use one potato and some butter.

This post is available to the highest bidder.

(have I missed something?)

part 1 posted. More later

Oh this is great! I'll definitely try this once its all finished. One question though, what do you mean exactly by keeping the yeast and salt apart? It seems like before then you tell us to mix them together.

I also find it interesting that you have all of your measurements in weights. In America recipes measure pretty much everything by volume. Do you use a scale or something in your kitchen to measure with?

:lol::lol::lol::lol:

"Okay, this is a forum for a mod that we want to be able to be played with a max historical accuracy. So I'll make a thread about making pizza."

:mischief:

"Okay, this is a forum for a mod that we want to be able to be played with a max historical accuracy. So I'll make a thread about making pizza."

...Rhye is ITALIAN, what did you expect? :p just kidding

Pizza, Pizza
Fill up your face
The thicker the pastry
The better the base!

Let us gorge upon this most holy and delicious of foods, brought to us by the mighty modder and cook Rhye!

:worship::worship::worship:

I want pizza! And talking the truth... who doesn't like pizza!? ( propably just the unbelievers!!!! ò_o but we will burn them! )


One Pizza To Rule Them All. Rhye's Pizza.

Rhye's Pizza and the Falling to Love On It of Civilizations

:rotfl:

Rhye's Pizza and the Falling to Love On It of Civilizations

:rotfl:
Sorry to spoil your fun but:
Rhye's Pizza and the Falling In Love With It of Civilizations
:p
I still laughed though =]]

part 2 posted.


Oh this is great! I'll definitely try this once its all finished. One question though, what do you mean exactly by keeping the yeast and salt apart? It seems like before then you tell us to mix them together.


yes you must mix them together but try not to add them close to each other.
Like: add yeast together with oil, water, then a part of flour, then salt, then the rest of the flour.


I also find it interesting that you have all of your measurements in weights. In America recipes measure pretty much everything by volume. Do you use a scale or something in your kitchen to measure with?

yes a scale. What do you use otherwise? :confused:

Hah. I actually work at a pizza place in Chicago. I make pizzas all the time. Finding out new recipes is very interesting, and I've never had Italian style pizza(Let's face it, you can't have Italian style pizza outside of Italy, just like you can't have Chicago style outside of Chicago. It always seems to get butchered in some way.)

weeeeee

yes a scale. What do you use otherwise? :confused:
Well thats the point, we don't use weight for anything. Its just a new idea for me :p

Guess I'll have to find a scale somewhere.

Hah. I actually work at a pizza place in Chicago. I make pizzas all the time. Finding out new recipes is very interesting, and I've never had Italian style pizza(Let's face it, you can't have Italian style pizza outside of Italy, just like you can't have Chicago style outside of Chicago. It always seems to get butchered in some way.)

weeeeee

There is a lot of Italian Pizza style in São Paulo :crazyeye:

They are so italian that everybody in the restaurant speeks italian...

( Or this has something to do that there is more italians in São Paulo than in any city of Italy :lol: )

Well, I'm just saying that I've tried "Chicago Style" pizza from places outside of Chicago.. Like Atlanta and Salt Lake City...


Let me just say.. No.. not at all.

In fact, American pizza pretty much sucks. There are vry few exceptions. Chicago being one of them. Chicago pizza is by far the best I've ever had(I've never had Italian Pizza, but it's made so different, that I sometimes wonder why they are both called the same thing)

I'm not much of a poster but pizza is always good. Thank you

part 3 added

this thread is a heck of a thing

In Brazil they make chocolate pizza, and cinnamon-banana pizza, and chicken with cream cheese ("catupiry" cheese) pizza! I miss Brazilian pizza, hehe... Ask Edungeon...

In Ottawa's Little Italy, there's a pizzeria that makes mango-brie pizza, too.

In Brazil they make chocolate pizza

Is it like a normally dressed pizza dipped in chocolate or just the bread with a chocolate spread? Either way, it sounds like it would take a week to work off :sheep:

I have only ever eaten Pizza from Britain (having never been to Italy or the USA) However I am looking forward to using Rhyes recipe, or maybe getting my girlfriend to do it ;)...

Set it to 200 degrees or a little more.

@Rhye Americans (see I can resist the temptation to say Yanks when I try*) still use fahrenheit I am guessing this is centigrade right?

*Just wondering would anyone actually be offended if I did call Americans, Yanks?

Off-topic:

Just a question... why America has different measure in comparison to the rest of the World?

PS: I don't want to search in the net :) better listen to someone in the US to answer me! :P

200 °C = 400 °F



In Brazil they make chocolate pizza, and cinnamon-banana pizza, and chicken with cream cheese ("catupiry" cheese) pizza! I miss Brazilian pizza, hehe... Ask Edungeon...

In Ottawa's Little Italy, there's a pizzeria that makes mango-brie pizza, too.

:thumbdown: This is the most awful, horrific thing I've heard about pizza in my life. It sends shivers down my spine. :vomit:
You should read Part 4 carefully when I write it

:thumbdown: This is the most awful, horrific thing I've heard about pizza in my life. It sends shivers down my spine. :vomit:
You should read Part 4 carefully when I write it

LOL Rhye. I understand. But, seen as 1 of 6 Brazilians is actually Italian, don't cry, it was Italians who made it all up - and trust me, it is good (well, the sweet ones I don't really like, I admit)...

But noone can beat Italy when it comes to pasta (aaahhh, memories, memories)

@thenooblet: No cheese, just the bread (then again, I haven't been to Brazil in years, so I forget). Maybe Edungeon can correct me if I'm wrong.

Off-topic:

Just a question... why America has different measure in comparison to the rest of the World?

PS: I don't want to search in the net :) better listen to someone in the US to answer me! :P


tradtion i suppose. we kept it when everyone else changed, we were isolationist for the longest time..

I've only had English pizza also...:(

English Pizza isnt so bad, certainly sounds better than chocolate pizza...

English Pizza isnt so bad, certainly sounds better than chocolate pizza...

I love Chocolate pizza :king:. And there is Banana Pizza, Romeo and Juliet ( a guava jam pizza xD )... well, we are strange people :mischief:

But the better pizza is the "7 cheeses", with Catupiry, Mozzarella, Provolone, Gorgonzola, Parmesan, Ricotta and normal cheese...

Oh boy... now i am hungry T_T


A Recipe that i found in the internet:


Title: CHOCOLATE PIZZA
Categories: Pizza, Chocolate
Yield: 12 servings

1 c Semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 c Shortening
1/2 c Flour
1/2 c Granulated sugar
2 Eggs
1 ts Baking powder
3/4 c Semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 tb Shortening
2 tb Water

** %%%%% CHOCOLATE PIZZA %%%%%

assorted candy for decoration

Melt 1 cup chocolate chips and 1/2 cup shortening over hot water;
cool. Stir in flour, sugar, eggs and baking powder with fork; mix
well. Spread evenly onto well-greased 12 inch pizza pan. Bake in 375
oven for 15 minutes. Cool. Combine 3/4 cup chocolate chips, 2 tbsp
shortening and 2 tbsp water, stir to combine. Spread glaze evenly
over cooled chocolate pizza. Decorate as desired with candies. Makes
one 12 inch chocolate pizza.


http://static.flickr.com/86/255079823_ca9082a532.jpg

I love Chocolate pizza :king:. And there is Banana Pizza, Romeo and Juliet ( a guava jam pizza xD )... well, we are strange people :mischief:

But the better pizza is the "7 cheeses", with Catupiry, Mozzarella, Provolone, Gorgonzola, Parmesan, Ricotta and normal cheese...

Oh boy... now i am hungry T_T


A Recipe that i found in the internet:



http://static.flickr.com/86/255079823_ca9082a532.jpg

oh crap. It might be good, but how can you call it pizza?

What we gonna call it xD if isn't pizza?

pizza['pɪːtsə]
n. Italian dish made from baked dough covered in tomato sauce and cheese
The pros:

round shape
Made by Italians =P
baked dough

against:

Doesn't have Tomato and Cheese...


Well it has more Pros than Against! XD So let's call it Pizza!

Its sweet not savoury. So not pizza IMHO, I dont know how anyone could eat that, no offence ment of course...

:P I thought that too, because salt + sweet is not a great mix... but i was wrong, the chocolate pizza was very good and then i tried others.

But well, even if you think that it isn't very good, try it! ( of course if you find some chocolate pizza ).

And:

"Taste is Taste, said the snot-eater woman" :P ( hope that this traduction of a proverb makes some sense! )

Quick question.
Has anyone actually tried out Rhye's recipe?

I will when I have more time and the Flavour section is all done :)

sorry sorry I'll write it as soon as I can

Part 4 added!

BUON APPETITO!

YAAAY!!!

Yum Yum :p

LOVE THE PICS! This is the yummiest thread in civ world!

This thread makes me hungry. Really, really hungry.

You'd probably better start making the pizza then ;)

I am so getting my girlfriend to look at this thread :)

Bah, let the women do all the work, why don't ya?

:p

ok, if you insist :p

If I wait for MY wife to make that pizza...

If you ever get the chance, try St. Louis style pizza. It's the best cheese on a cracker you'll ever eat.

c'mon it's your turn now! Post your results (and photos if you want)!

I had the a Napoli pizza visiting Rome. It rocks!


Don't forget: Fold the pizza in half on itself and you have a Calzone.

:*) :*) :*)

This thread makes me hungry. Really, really hungry.

Me too... And I had my appendix removed lately, so I am not recommended to eat stuff like pizzas yet! A really sadistic thread, if you ask me...

Well...sorry to hate, but I can't stand american "pie" pizza, only really like Italian pizza, thin base, hint of garlic, and good non-frozen reheated vegetables on it...damn I'm picky...

As a Chicagoan, I love many kinds of pizza. Not just different toppings, but different styles. Here we eat thin crispy (called St. Louis style by many), Chicago style deep dish, stuffed, as well as traditional Italian style.

Personally I love Spinach and mushroom pizza.

Having traveled in Italy recently, I found that some of the best pizza came from little out of the way places in Rome, Florence and Naples which I stumbled upon.

Well...sorry to hate, but I can't stand american "pie" pizza, only really like Italian pizza, thin base, hint of garlic, and good non-frozen reheated vegetables on it...damn I'm picky...

sorry, there's no garlic on pizza :nono:

Good manual Rhye. After some lines though I remembered about the best Pizzeria in Turin 100m away of my home. Going to order now... :rolleyes:

I personally prefer good New York/New Jersey style pizza with no toppings other than cheese. The pizza when I went to Italy was certainly very different, but in the end I didn't enjoy it quite as much.

Probably a function of me having been raised on New York style :)

sorry, there's no garlic on pizza :nono:

Well, Rhye, you gonna have to swim across the Atlantic and beat me (us) up before I take that garlic out of my pizza!

One thing I've only seen in French pizzas is egg! A nice sunny-side up egg splashed in the centre of the pizza (ham, mushrooms, onions and tomatoes)...

Delizioso!

put anything you like on it, but don't call it pizza then ;)

thread updated

gawd im so hungry now :(

we need a mafia guide now

Hmm I'm having pizza tonight.

Unfortunately it's just an oven pizza. Nice though.

This will help at college. Thanks Rhye.

And if you can use Spanish (Iberico if you can find it) cured ham instead of prosciutto, then heaven is within reach, but only add it after the pizza is cooked when you serve it. Good chorizo is one of my favorite toppings as well.

And if you can use Spanish (Iberico if you can find it) cured ham instead of prosciutto, then heaven is within reach, but only add it after the pizza is cooked when you serve it.


Jamon Iberico (http://images.google.it/images?q=Jam%C3%B3n+ib%C3%A9rico&ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:it:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi)...

yeah, definitely to add after cooked, since it is a raw ham, such as Parma ham, San Daniele, etc.
It matches prefectly with mascarpone, otherwise with cherry tomatos and mozzarella di bufala

Thnx Rhye. I deffinatly going to try these out when I have an oven. Or make them at a friends place.

And if you can use Spanish (Iberico if you can find it) cured ham instead of prosciutto, then heaven is within reach, but only add it after the pizza is cooked when you serve it. Good chorizo is one of my favorite toppings as well.

chorizo is good in virtually every single plate a mortal can do

I've had pizza in various places in the world, and Italian pizza is definately unlike most other pizzas. If you look at Rhye's "don't" list, that's pretty much the problems, if you want to call them that, with other pizza.

I've only eaten pizza from restaurants in Italy, never from someone's home, so I can't say I'm an expert on it. But there's a distinct difference. Italian pizza has much less mass than other pizza. It's much thinner, and has more flavour. Other pizzas need to be cooked for longer, so they get more of a pie flavour.

I'm not saying that other "not real" pizzas are bad. I do like a thick pepperoni pizza, literally covered in meat, and thick with cheese. It's not very similar to proper pizza, but I do enjoy it. The Indian restaurant near me does a Chicken Tikka and Onion pizza, which is well, just nothing like Italian pizza. Delicious though.

When I get some time, I'll try cooking some myself, and see if it turns out anything decent.

I'll probably be banned from updating RFC for saying this :) , but I don't like Italian pizza at all. There's just not enough stuff on it, at least not in the restaurant variety.
I much prefer the Swedish specialty Kebab pizza. Kebab meat, mushrooms, lettuce, fresh tomato, cucumber, feferoni peppers, garlic sauce and lots and lots of feta cheese. Now that's a pizza :)

I personally prefer thinner bases, the crunchier the better. :)

I'll probably be banned from updating RFC for saying this , but I don't like Italian pizza at all. There's just not enough stuff on it, at least not in the restaurant variety.
I much prefer the Swedish specialty Kebab pizza. Kebab meat, mushrooms, lettuce, fresh tomato, cucumber, feferoni peppers, garlic sauce and lots and lots of feta cheese. Now that's a pizza

I always said that non-Italians don't get the cooking and taste gene. Now I know I've been right

I'll probably be banned from updating RFC for saying this :) , but I don't like Italian pizza at all. There's just not enough stuff on it, at least not in the restaurant variety.
I much prefer the Swedish specialty Kebab pizza. Kebab meat, mushrooms, lettuce, fresh tomato, cucumber, feferoni peppers, garlic sauce and lots and lots of feta cheese. Now that's a pizza :)

AAAAARGH!!! You'll get the plague back at full strength!!!

I saw once a chocolate pizza with marshmallows as a topping in Scotland.
Another option was haggis... hopefully not on a chocolate pizza.

Scotland

That was the problem. Scotland's national delicacy is the deep-fried Mars bar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-fried_Mars_bar

I had a pizza for lunch today, I followed Rhye's rules on what toppings are allowed.

Haggis is really good though, all the juicy bits of a sheap tied up nicely in its own bladder, yum

mind you they do rubbish black pudding.

This is an interesting way to cook a pizza ;)

In the east coast of Scotland they can be served with "Salt and Sauce" -- with the pizza smothered in brown sauce (seemingly a mixture of HP sauce and vinegar) before being folded in half.

This pizza is deep fried without batter, although another variation known as a "Pizza Crunch" consists of a large, battered slice of pizza deep fried, usually served with chips

The worse I have possibly tried, again, was in Scotland and is the deep-fried pizza: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-fried_pizza
I can't believe I'd forgotten about that and the deep-fried mars bars... I've also seen in a fishie something called a kebab pizza which had no cheese, almost no tomato and a mountain of mutton meat.

I think all in all, Scottish food and the Scottish Premier League convinced me to leave to Spain...

I made a Pavement Pizza the other day - main ingredients: beer, and lots of it... :D

thread updated with new pictures and new forbidden ingredients

Hey, I love pizza with kebab! Now I feel guilty when I'll eat it. ;)

I looooove pizza with kebab, onion and bell pepper. It's just delicious. Also shrimp-clam-onion pizza is fabulous.

I love kebab too. But I don't call it pizza, I call it kebab

So Rhye, seeing that we all love pizza, but you have quite a long list of forbidden ingredients which I would say is the definition of "Italian true pizza", but all the other ingredients go as well, as pizza is truly more of a "world food" than an Italian one.. ;)

However, as you seem to be an expert and radical on Italian pizza, I wanted you to ask wether the following ingredients whcih I happen to like sometime on my pizza are oks or no-gos?

Corn - I absolutely adore it and have it wherever possible
Curry - Only on a really special one, probably shouldn't be, right?
Peppers - the vegetable I mean, not really something special. I see nothing wrong with it?
Mustard - We do just a little bit with the tomtato sauce in to make it more spicy. I absolutely like it, although I know it shouldn't belong in there... ;)
Rucola - That is an Italian thing as far as I know, sometimes ago, it was put on everything... ;)
Vegetables generally - like Aubergines (I think the americans call it egg-plant) ...?

And can we have a commentary on some - I thought so far as - really Italian flavours like

Quattro Stagioni,
Funghi,
Frutti di Mare,
Napoli or
Quattro Formaggio

which you don't mention in your post

And last but not least, do you consider a Calzone a pizza, or is it still something different like a Foccacia? (Oh, btw. I absolutely adore Foccacias [what's the correct plural here?].

a kind admirer ;)

mick

Yeah I'm radical but I think that this is something the italian government too should learn to be, like the Japanese did with Sushi recently, cos it's being "distorted" abroad.

let's see your requests...

I've seen Corn occasionally: matched with ham and mascarpone
Rucola (I spelt it "arugola", as found in the dictionary) is quite good. I like it with wurstel, and it's usually matched with Parmigiano, but you can put it on almost anything
I mentioned aubergines in my post, matched with ricotta - it's awesome
I can't recall any pepper on a pizza, but it shouldn't be bad. As long as it is still pizza with a few slices or pieces, not the opposite like the photos I posted at the bottom, you know what I mean?
I would add mustard and curry to the forbidden ones, since they deviate the taste of pizza to something else.

I consider Calzone a hybrid between a pizza and a focaccia (pl. focacce), still good.

As for the flavours you mentioned, I'm personally neutral towards 4 (Quattro) Stagioni and 4 Formaggi, since they are classic but I don't love them particularly, and I posted just my favourite ones.
Frutti di mare is kinda strange but very very good.
I mentioned Napoli already (I wrote "Napoletana") and read "Ham and Mushrooms" for Funghi, taking away the ham.

Still, the Queen of all pizzas is the Margherita.:queen:
It's really simple: its topping is just made of San Marzano tomatoes, cow-buffalo mozzarella, basil, olive oil. It was named in 1889 after the Italian queen, who found it delicious.
If you ever pass by Naples, don't miss a chance to taste it, preferably with a Falanghina white wine.
But I have to warn you: I myself avoid it outside Naples; in the rest of Italy, I like better pizzas that don't need to be perfectly balanced.

Panna e speck ftw

Hey, thanks for the answer (and sorry for not replying, it's exam season again with me... they just keep coming up like hurricanes... ;)).

Never intended to make spelling errors and I actually can't stand frutti di mare as well. But can you detail me how a calzone is a mix of a pizza and a focaccia? As far as I have seen, a foccacia is "just the pastry with a few ingredients worked into the pastry" whil a calzone is pizza where you have put egg into it and turned one half on the other. (I just vandalized Italian cuisine by words, right?)

Thinking of it, I actually have not eaten a lot of Calzones, I prefer the mezzaluna of that kind (that is where just one half is covered, right?).

Now I'm hungry again, great... ;)

mike

Hey, thanks for the answer (and sorry for not replying, it's exam season again with me... they just keep coming up like hurricanes... ;)).

Never intended to make spelling errors and I actually can't stand frutti di mare as well. But can you detail me how a calzone is a mix of a pizza and a focaccia? As far as I have seen, a foccacia is "just the pastry with a few ingredients worked into the pastry" whil a calzone is pizza where you have put egg into it and turned one half on the other. (I just vandalized Italian cuisine by words, right?)

Thinking of it, I actually have not eaten a lot of Calzones, I prefer the mezzaluna of that kind (that is where just one half is covered, right?).

Now I'm hungry again, great... ;)

mike

Focaccia = same pastry, nothing on it (just some extra oil and salt). After cooked, open it and fill it like a sandwich

Calzone = pizza one half on the other (if round). Just with the filling much ticker and with some tomato on top. No egg (may just be a variation)



Panna e speck ftw


ca**o panna e speck non ci avevo pensato

ok, so it be ;) now I'm going to have lasagna for dinner... ;)

Focaccia = same pastry, nothing on it (just some extra oil and salt). After cooked, open it and fill it like a sandwich

In Genova Focaccia si completely different btw...

And how could you forget Panna e Speck? It's one of the best!

I guess speck with panna won't be much different than with mascarpone.

And here we don't even use the word "focaccia". It's "schiacciata" here

Corn - I absolutely adore it and have it wherever possible

I worked in Northern Italy for a few months in the mid 1970s.

I stayed in a rural restraunt near Ivrea, with one room for guests. (may have been a tax dodge - who knows??)

As I was staying there for a few months and they knew I was from England, they asked me if there was any food I would like that was not on their menu.

I said corn on the cob.

They looked at me with astonishment. "We only give that to the farm animals" they said, "We do not eat it".

However, they allowed me into the kitchen, gave me the cob and I cooked (boiled) it myself, added the butter, salt and pepper and ate it. They looked at me with amazement.

It never appearred on the menu - but I could have it whenever I wanted.

Which poor animal starved because of me. :) :)

Edit.

The Aosta valley served the best food in the world then. No matter where you ate. Few tourists, except skiers, so good, local, well cooked food.

Wonder if it is the same now!!